Thursday, June 15, 2006

Good News for Birmingham

A Birmingham abortion clinic has surrendered its license amid allegations that a woman delivered a nearly full-term stillborn baby after a clinic staff member gave her an abortion-inducing drug and performed other medical treatments without a doctor present, health officials said Wednesday....

Wednesday's move avoids a hearing on June 20 in which the state would have presented its case against the center and sought to revoke its license....

Cheryl Sabel, acting president of the Montgomery chapter of the National Organization for Women, said that the allegations against the clinic were "shocking and dismaying" and that the closure is a setback for women in Alabama, where there are now nine abortion clinics.

"Every time a women's health clinic closes, it is a huge blow for women and it's very unfortunate," she said. "But women must be protected, and there are standards -- as there are for every health care facility -- and every facility needs to abide by the rules."

So it's a huge blow for women when a clinic (with a history of "gross malpractice") shuts down after a non-doctor gives a nearly full-term pregnant woman RU-486 after doing an ultrasound and telling her she was only six weeks pregnant? If NOW wants abortions to be safe and legal then one would hope they'd see shutting down a clinic like this as a step in the right direction.